Im not a Rafer "apologist" btw, tiger, you have the ability to make perfectly sound basketball posts without falling into the "labeling and denigrating your debater" trap. It certainly adds zero to your argument. With the facts as they are, why bother.... fact is...Rafer is inconsistent fact is...he is having a horrible shooting season fact is...he still makes too many dumb mistakes I used to feel that his positives outweighed his negatives, and actually thought he was turning a corner a week or two back....but the last few losses have showcased his weaknesses in a way that even those of us not calling for his head are wishing we could have found someone else. and for the record I dont feel James would have been our best choice, but would have lived with the decision had CD pulled off the rumored move for James.
When he averaged 10 points coming off the bench and we traded him for a guy with a history of fighting with his coach. Obviously that trade wasn't made because he has no talent. He has plenty of talent, but people get rid of him because he causes chemistry issues. He's played for like 5 different teams, and averaged well over 10 points per 40 minutes, shot a good percentage. Yet people keep trading him for virtually nothing or letting him slip into free agency. Agreed, he shoots bad, but have you looked at the +/- numbers lately? We score more points with him on the court. So he must make up for his bad FG% with something. PG is our weak spot, sure. We could get a better PG, sure. But Mike James isn't that guy. But what can you do? If we could get a better PG, I'm down with that. But teams aren't just handing out PGs. And any trades for PGs would create a hole somewhere else. There are no PGs so far that are better than Rafer that show the willingness to sign with us for the MLE. And, despite some people's thoughts, Vspan or Jon Jon starting isn't the answer. Tmac starting at point isn't the answer. The best thing we can do is just stick it through, perhaps try develop a PG. But for now, we are just going to have to deal. It doesn't have anything to do with Rafer, this thread is supposed to be about Mike James. I'm not denying Rafer isn't a subpar point gaurd, but really... what can you do?
he plays about 38 mins a game..... just cuz you criticize a player does not mean you're not a true fan. I would never say a Rafer Lover is not a Rockets fan, cuz they are....whether you think he's good or you think he's awful, it doesnt mean you're not a fan. it's an opinion... we all want rafer to do well, but for every good game he has, he has 5 bad games. there are no indications that he will come through for us on a consistent basis in the playoffs.... if you haven't criticized david carr or luther head on his turnovers or chuck hayes on his abiliity to finish, then you pretty much a dumbass. you need to open your eyes.
Fair enough. I will try my best to avoid that 'tone' moving forward. In fact, I won't bother with this thread anymore and... ...that ^ is why. I will leave it to Sam or Clutch, both of whom can argue this point much more eloquently than I.
1. Not clapping? Sounds like MJ is pulling a Spanoulis on the bench. 2. Forget 4th qtr tonight on the bench... his play on the court hasn't been that great all season, and particularly in the last few games... 3. I still have to give him credit for what he did with Rockets, though.. I don't know why he hasn't played all that well this season. Is it age? Is it just the team being a bad fit? It's hard for me to tell since I don't watch every Minny game.
Its one thing to criticise a player, but its another to do it enough to where thats what you become known for. I recognize his bad shooting, ect. But I also recognize that there really isn't anything we can do about it. So I dont like to waste my breath talking about it. I personally have something against people that are fans of the team, but hate specific players because they suck, whatever. The only time I "hate" a player is when they do stuff off the court that effects the team. Our turnovers are down when he is in the game. So that would suggest that he doesn't make as many mistakes.
A_3PO and Rockets2K have said exactly how I feel towards Rafer, Mike James and the thinking that all opinions are synonymous. I wish Mike James well but he has to live with his decision and I don't feel sorry for him. Glad he didn't sign and that we didn't trade for him. Feelings aside in regards to Rafer, I'm hoping he goes on a good shooting streak during the playoffs so he won't become a burden for TMAC and Yao. We Rocket fans have been on the waiting list for playoff success for far too long and deserve some joy.
I have a slight feeling that we are going to sign him even if he is no value to this team. Hes a slight improvement over Rafer i guess?
shooting the ball with 22 on the shotclock and when tmac hasnt crossed half court yet doesnt count as a turnover
I have a feeling a Juwan for Mike deal may go down this offseason if the Rockets can get a cheap PF via draft or trade somewhere. Salaries sufficiently match, as do team needs, I think. Juwan is a pretty average player right now, but he has his skills, and he would be one of the few Minny guys who isn't flaky.
oh and after an offensive rebound, it's ok to pass up an open three to set up the offense, and get the ball to your best player in a postion to do something with it. Rafer does know he gets a new 24 right?
And how many times has he done that? Once maybe? The only other type of mistakes is taking too many shots, but he gets open shots from the 3 all the time. Its not like he jacks up any more bad shots than some of the other players on the team. I dont know how this has suddenly turned into another "Rafer sucks, he doesn't suck, ect". We've been there thousands of times. The point is that we shouldn't be going after Mike James because he isn't an upgrade over Rafer overall.
you must not watch......rafer does that frequently. 3 of four times a week? i'll start counting. who jacks up shots on this team? tmac? i dont know who you're referring to. Mike James is an upgrade over Alston......contract wise? they both have bad contracts
Mike James can create his own shot, which is something this Houston team desperately needs this year. We have no offensive firepower outside of our two stars, and as a result you have guys like Battier and Alston being asked to take on the scoring burden.
Rafer's play pisses me off to the nth degree. That said, I'd rather replace him with someone who isn't a selfish ******* like James. I remember him waving people off when he was with us (though in the most talked about incident, it was actually T-Mac that had to wave him off). I remember him constantly talking about getting his new contract last season and basically disrespecting the Raptors organization. And i'll certainly remember watching his sh*tty body language and play this season from when I've watched Minnesota games. There are better guys out there. If we're gonna get someone to replace Rafer, I'd rather it not be an older guy with a ****ty disposition that happens to shoot better (but certainly doesn't handle the ball or support his teammates as well). That's the same kind of "get what we can" attitude that got us saddled with Rafer in the first place.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ikCIp6VPv2E"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ikCIp6VPv2E" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> who? mike jones go to 2:47 to see t-mac who? sorry i'm drunk, but t-mac looks big in this video
